1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for processing a selected item which is displayed on a display screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various researches have been conducted to intelligibly present an item to be displayed on a screen to a user.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-261918 discusses a technique for magnifying and displaying a focused icon, in which icons except the focused icon are moved to magnify the focused icon. Further, this reference also discusses a technique in which icons except the focused icon is reduced and moved to expand a display area of the focused icon.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-094131 discusses a navigation device for a moving object, which expands the display area in an advancing direction of a moving object.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-280577 discusses a technique for monitoring the continuous operation time of a scroll key for determining a scrolling direction in a map. When the operation time exceeds threshold values, a scale of a map is automatically and stepwise changed to display a larger area and scrolling is continued in the determined direction.
The technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-261918 does not provide a user with sufficient visibility in the direction selected by the user. In the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-094131, the display area of a map is restricted by the location of a moving object, so that a user cannot freely select the display area and a scrolling speed in a map. In addition, although the display area is expanded in an advancing direction of a moving object, the advancing speed of the moving object is not considered. In the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-280577, a cursor is not smoothly moved according to changing of a map scale and scrolling, so that a user cannot select an arbitrary point on the map with the cursor.